Chapter 17
I didn’t realize my mistake until I stood naked in the shower, the hot water pounding against my skin with the same intensity as my heart thrashing against its cage.
I really wanted to focus on the incredible view outside the window and the amazing water pressure, but that’s when I remembered I’d left my backpack downstairs.
I’d dropped the clothes I’d been wearing on Ray’s bedroom floor, so there was no way for me to exit the bathroom without showing my ass, literally, to the people I desperately wanted to impress.
I could do the towel-around-the-waist thing that Ray had done in front of my parents, but he hadn’t done it intentionally.
I lacked both the confidence and the grace to pull off such a bold move on purpose. Fuck!
And why was I so nervous about spending time with Ray’s best friends?
I’d already met three out of the four. Not formally, and we’d only exchanged casual greetings when our paths crossed, but I’d seen nothing on those occasions to warrant such panic.
Maybe it was the idea of meeting Vaughn.
There was something in his voice that stood out more than the others, a warm persuasion that reached Ray when the others hadn’t.
I had this irrationally strong pressure to make a good impression on him.
That meant I’d need to step up my game, and I’d have to do it on wobbly, just-sexed-within-an-inch-of-my-life legs.
Get it together, man.
Instead, I sat in the center of the shower floor.
Real mature. But what else was there to do when the world spun around me?
Everything had shifted between Ray and me so dizzyingly fast, taking us from strangers to friends to…
boyfriends? Whoa! Reel it in, pal. I was getting ahead of myself while everyone waited for me.
Hell, those super soldiers could probably smell my fear from downstairs.
No, fear wasn’t the right word. I wasn’t afraid of them or even my growing feelings for Ray, though I should’ve been terrified of how badly I wanted this—whatever it was—to work out between us.
I needed to be chill and let them get to know me.
No biggie. Except I’d never been chill a day in my life.
The door opened, and Ray stepped into the bathroom with my backpack in his hand. He wore a bemused smile until he saw me sitting on the shower floor. Ray’s brow furrowed, and the light left his eyes. “Did I hurt you?”
I scrambled to my feet, eager to ease his worry. “God no.” Taking a deep breath, I said, “I’m just freaking out a little. I want your friends to like me.” I cringed as soon as the words left my mouth. “God, that sounded so whiny and desperate.”
Ray dropped my backpack on the closed toilet lid and came to the shower door. His intense expression made me think he was coming in fully dressed, but he stopped. “You don’t sound whiny, and you don’t have anything to worry about with the guys. They already like you.”
“They don’t really know me,” I told him.
“But they know me, and I really like you.” Ray’s voice was low and velvety, and I nearly slid to the shower floor for a different reason.
Bracing my hand on the glass wall, I stared into his gorgeous blue eyes. “I really like you too.”
“The sooner you come downstairs, the faster we order pizza and get rid of them.”
“Pizza?” I asked.
Ray groaned and rolled his eyes. “I couldn’t reason with them to leave, though I tried like hell.
They agreed to limit their visit if we ordered pizzas.
” He raked his gaze over me, slowly and thoroughly.
Every cell in my body felt caressed during his perusal.
“Because there are things I want to do to you.”
That got me moving like nothing else could.
I reached for his bodywash and squirted a generous amount into my palms, rubbing them together to get a good lather.
Ray’s nostrils flared, and a menacing little devil stirred inside me.
Keeping my eyes locked on his, I made a sensual production of washing my arms and chest, slowing my motions as I reached my stomach and soaped my cock and balls.
Ray growled and reached for the door handle but stopped himself before opening it. “Turn around and show me your ass.”
Arousal stirred in my belly as I obeyed him, though nothing else was ready to rise to the occasion.
Spreading my legs, I slid soapy hands over my ass and fingered the crease between my cheeks.
My fingertip brushed over my sensitive pucker, and I couldn’t hold back a moan.
The door opened behind me, and cool air washed over my skin as feverish hands gripped my hips and yanked me back against a hard body.
Ray’s hands roamed over my chest, then down over my belly and into my pubic hair to circle around the base of my cock.
He stroked me once before sliding his hands up to tease my nipples.
Then Ray gripped my chin and turned my head so that his mouth was against my ear.
“I like that you’re using my soap, but soon, every part of you will smell like me for a different reason.”
“Yes,” I whimpered.
“I’m giving them an hour max before I throw them out the door or shove them through a window.” Ray nipped my earlobe. “I need you.”
I didn’t know what to do with the things this man made me feel.
How was it possible someone like Ray could want me so badly?
I couldn’t wrap my overheated mind around it, so I didn’t try.
Giving in to my instincts, I met his dirty talk with some of my own.
I turned in Ray’s embrace and looped my arms around his neck.
If he didn’t care that his shirt was getting soaked, then neither did I.
“Maybe you can just push them off the balcony since you promised to fuck me up against the windows.”
“The balcony seems too tame. Besides, there are tons of windows to choose from.” Ray slid both hands down to grip my cheeks, pulling them apart and pushing them together in an erotic massage that drove me wild.
And then he said, “Kinda wish I grabbed the butt plug I saw in your toy box. Imagine you squirming with arousal every time the tip nudged against your prostate over the next hour. Mmmmm.”
Ray captured my mouth in a hot, wet kiss before I could respond beyond a needy moan.
He swallowed the sound and continued massaging my ass until a burst of laughter from downstairs caught his attention.
Reluctantly breaking the kiss, he dropped his hands from my body with a heavy sigh. “Better get down there.”
“I guess.” The pout in my voice made him grin.
“What do you like on your pizza?” Ray asked.
“I’m not picky.”
Ray’s brow shot up. “You’d eat anchovies?”
“It’s not my favorite thing,” I admitted. “And I don’t have food allergies.” Thank goodness, or I’d surely eat the one thing I shouldn’t and ruin our night with a major medical event.
“Good to know.” Ray kissed me hard and swatted my ass once more before stepping back and shutting the shower door.
“Might want to change your shirt and pants,” I said. Could we be more obvious?
Ray winked as he backed out of the bathroom. “They already know what’s taking me so damn long.” He shut the door, leaving me alone to finish my shower.
Suddenly, the idea of eating pizza and getting to know Ray’s friends didn’t seem so scary.
All eyes swung in my direction as I approached the steps, and the confidence I’d found in the shower fizzled a bit.
I inhaled a good, deep breath and tried to recall a scene from a movie where a glamorous woman or a debonair man descended a staircase.
An image of Kate Winslet sprang to mind, and I channeled her gracefulness as I took the first step, and then the next.
I was halfway down when I realized the scene had come from Titanic, and my stomach sank faster than that ship had.
My next step was a little shaky, and I nearly missed the one after that.
Ray’s eyes widened in alarm, and he moved toward the bottom of the staircase as if prepared to break my fall.
That sweet gesture calmed my nerves and steadied my legs so that I reached him unscathed.
Strong hands landed on my hips, and Ray greeted me with a devastating smile.
“Hi,” I said breathlessly.
“Hi.” Ray kissed me once, twice, and likely would’ve taken more if not for the giddy laughter coming from the oversized sofa. Releasing my lips with a soft growl, Ray whispered, “I might kill them.”
“With kindness?” I teased.
Ray tilted his head to the wall of glass. “If I launch one of them through the window, the other three should scatter on their own.”
“But which one would you choose?” I whispered.
“Won’t be me,” Archer called out. “I’m bottom-heavy.”
“That’s one way to describe that juicy ass,” Nico told him. “And I’m afraid of heights, so I’m not going out the window.”
Ethan smiled and shook his head. “Won’t be me. I’m Ray’s favorite.”
“It’s true,” Ray said.
Vaughn shook his head and stood up. “No one is going out the window. Too much of a mess when there’s a perfectly good balcony to hurl Archer over.”
“Hey!” Archer protested.
Vaughn crossed the room, extending his hand to me when he reached us. His big palm engulfed mine when we shook, but he kept the pressure friendly. “I’m Vaughn.”
“Kit,” I replied. Only Ray called me Atticus, and I liked it that way. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
“He’s the daddy,” Archer said. “Sugar and otherwise.”
Vaughn shook his head firmly. “Nope.”
“He’s our fearless leader,” Ethan amended with an easy smile.
“Reckon that means y’all better close your mouths and behave, then,” Vaughn told them. “This is an important night.”
The guys grumbled for a few seconds before promising to be on their best behavior.
Moving toward the kitchen, Vaughn said, “What’s everyone want to drink?”
Ethan wanted a root beer, Archer wanted an IPA I’d never heard of, and Nico just asked for water.
“Sprite Zero,” Ray said.